Truth or Dare
by Lupinfangirl
Summary: Sirius is fed up with seeing how much Remus and Tonks like each other and decides on an unusual way to get them together. Takes place in the fall during OotP.
1. Chapter 1

"Truth or dare, Moony?"

It was Sirius Black's birthday, and only several guests had remained sitting in the kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place after the party ended. After a fabulous roast turkey with mashed potatoes, green beans, candied yams, and multiple other side dishes cooked by Molly Weasley; and a decadent chocolate cake (also courtesy of Molly), the party guests had stayed behind to socialize, dance, and play wizard chess. It was now a little past midnight, and the only people who hadn't left yet were Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Bill Weasley, and Mundungus Fletcher. Sirius, having had the most fun he's had since…before he's even been in Azkaban, decided to end the night with a little Marauder fun. Although everyone groaned when he suggested it ("Really, Padfoot? How old did you turn again?" Remus had asked), the idea of playing the game with good friends while drinking butterbeer did have a certain appeal.

"Do you even have to ask, Padfoot?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm a Marauder, remember? Truth is for sissies."

"That's right, silly me," said Sirius with a smirk. "No Marauder has ever turned down a dare. Remember how James dared you to spike McGonagall's coffee with Firewhiskey?"

"What? You actually did that?" Tonks exclaimed, unable to imagine the mature, level-headed Remus doing something so crazy. "What happened?"

"Well, I actually managed to spike her coffee, but it wasn't Firewhiskey in my flask. This git here," he said, pointing to Sirius, "gave me a flask with a Babbling Beverage instead. McGonagall ended up speaking gibberish for the rest of the day, until it wore off."

Everyone burst out laughing. "No way, mate!" said Bill. "Fred and George told me Professor Lupin was cool, but I had no idea how cool he really was."

"And he didn't even get caught." Sirius bragged. "You should have seen old McGonagall going on about how she won't be assigning homework because of all the leopards that are in our heliotropes. Heliotropes, she explained, are these furry canaries, who speak Spanish and love pizza with anchovies."

"All right, but you should keep in mind that whatever happens in this room stays in this room," said Remus, blushing slightly. "If any of this gets out to McGonagall, I'll force-feed the traitor with Every Flavor Beans."

"Nooo, anything but that!" Sirius yelled in mock horror. "I'll hold my tongue, I swear!"

"Me too," said Tonks. "I hate those things."

"My lips are sealed," said Bill. "Dung?"

Everyone turned towards Mundungus, who was passed out at the table, a half-open bottle of butterbeer still in his hand.

"OK, guess Dung isn't much of a threat," Sirius barked out a laugh, taking the bottle from his hand and placing it on the table. "All right, Moony, back to the dare. I dare you to…kiss Nymphadora!"

Dead silence, except for Mundungus' soft snores.

"Nymphadora?" Remus spluttered. " _Nymphadora Tonks?"_ He looked over at Tonks, who was as red as a tomato; even her trademark bubblegum-pink hair turned bright crimson.

"No, one of the other ten Nymphadoras we know." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course I mean Tonks, my dear little cousin."

Everyone stared at Remus, except Tonks, who was too embarrassed to even look up. Finally, she dared sneak a look at Remus's face: he looked uncomfortable and almost aghast.

"I'm sorry, Sirius. I can't." Remus finally said. "I'm turning this one down."

"Remus—Moony—what the hell?" Sirius said, once he found his voice. "What's wrong with you?"

Before Remus could say anything, Tonks cleared her throat. "Um, I just remembered. Early shift at work tomorrow! I'll see you guys later."

"Tonks, wait! Are you OK?" Sirius yelled after her.

"Fine, just got super tired. Gotta get some sleep before tomorrow!" said Tonks, grabbing her cloak. Before anyone could stop her, she was out the door and Disapparated back to her flat.


	2. Chapter 2

After three tries (her head still spinning from what had just happened), Nymphadora Tonks finally managed to Apparate to her flat. Sinking down to the floor, she dissolved into tears and let herself sob, glad that she had escaped just in time. She wanted to murder Sirius for humiliating her like that in front of Remus, the man she's been mad about since the day she met him a few months ago. Most of all, she felt pain, the searing pain from Remus flat-out refusing to kiss her. Tonks had been prepared for the possibility that Remus didn't fancy her in the way that she fancied him, but to be too repulsed to give her a peck on the lips was too awful for her to bear. He probably just saw her as a clumsy fool, a nuisance who was too stupid to be in the Order of the Phoenix. Finally, exhausted from her sobbing, Tonks dragged herself to her bed and fell asleep right there, without even washing her face first.

Over the next few days, Tonks was relieved that there were no Order meetings or guard duty, so there was no running into Remus. She wasn't sure how she should act around him anymore. Of course she couldn't be mad at him for not fancying her; she was just afraid that seeing him, how smart and kind and witty he was, would be a slap in the face, too upsetting for her, and would reopen that wound.

Friday night, after a grueling day at work, and a tedious guard duty shift, where she felt numb from sitting under the Invisibility cloak for five hours, Tonks made her way to Grimmauld Place to check in with Sirius. Although work has been tough, Tonks was grateful for the distraction it provided. The guard duty, however, was another story. There was nothing to do for five hours but sit there, and naturally her mind would wander to Remus.

Tonks tried to quietly slip in the door, but of course that bloody umbrella stand was in the way again. She swore loudly as Mrs. Black's portrait began to yell her usual obscenities about Mudbloods besmirching the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and other such drivel. She saw Sirius run up and struggle to close the curtain over the portrait, but for some reason, he wasn't yelling back at his mother, the way he normally did. Until Tonks realized that it was actually Remus there, not Sirius.

"Nymphadora, how are you?" he asked, walking up to Tonks.

"I'm fine," Tonks replied curtly, not looking at him. "Where's Sirius?" She felt so tired, so deflated, that she didn't even snap at Remus for using her horrible first name.

"He's asleep," said Remus. "Why don't you come in for a bit? You look exhausted."

Tonks suddenly felt that lump in her throat again and shook her head. "It's OK, just tell him guard duty went well." Her voice cracked and Remus put a hand on her shoulder.

"Nymphadora, are you sure you're OK?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Remus? It's Tonks!" She found it easier to snap at him than to cry and be vulnerable after what happened a few days ago. "And I told you I was fine, didn't I? I had a rough day, so just leave me alone and let me go home!"

"I won't leave you alone until you tell me what's bothering you." Remus tilted her head up to face him. "I've never seen you this upset."

Tonks marched past him into the living room, so she wouldn't wake Walburga Black again, and Remus followed her. "You really want to know what's wrong?" she yelled, tears now springing to her eyes. "What's bothering me is that you're a phony two-faced git! You act like this perfect gentleman, all sweet and chivalrous, but when you get the chance to kiss me, you act like it's a fate worse than death. Like it's scarier than spiking McGonagall's coffee." Tears were now streaming down Tonks's face. "Do you realize how hurt I was when you showed me how kissing me would repulse you?"

She glanced at Remus and saw that he looked confused, like he was trying to work out the answer to some mystery.

"Wait a second…you _wanted_ me to kiss you? And you thought I was repulsed by you?"

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Well spotted, Remus! Of course I wanted you to kiss me. I've only fancied you for four months already!" She blushed, suddenly realizing that she had said too much.

"Tonks…" Remus said slowly. "Oh, Merlin, Tonks, I'm so sorry. I need to explain…you misunderstood everything. Come on, sit down." He said, gesturing to the couch. Tonks sat, bringing her knees up to her chest, not daring to look at Remus.

Remus cleared his throat. "Tonks, here's the thing. I'm a poor, old werewolf, hardly a catch. So it never occurred to me that a young and beautiful woman, such as yourself, would ever think of me as anything other than a platonic friend. And that's the best-case scenario. I've had girlfriends who told me they wanted nothing to do with me after I told them the truth about who I am. I've been fired from jobs for my condition; I haven't had steady employment since I worked at Hogwarts."

Tonks's expression softened as she moved closer to Remus, not believing what she was hearing.

"When I first met you, Tonks, I was enchanted by you. You're not only beautiful, but you're also a brilliant Auror. And I could see that you didn't care that I was a werewolf, that you were able to look past appearances, and still treat me as an equal. I felt myself unworthy of you, but I still thought that if we were to kiss, I would want our first kiss to be special. I wouldn't want it to happen because Sirius dared me to do it and if you didn't want me to kiss you."

"Oh, Remus," Tonks sighed. "You shouldn't think that way about yourself. I know there are lots of bigots out there, but they're all idiots. It's their loss for not appreciating the man you really are." She put her arms around him and hugged him closely. Remus returned the hug, rubbing her back and placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. They sat like that for a little while, until Tonks spoke up.

"So, how did you imagine our first kiss?" she asked with a grin.

"Well," said Remus. "I would have liked for it to happen when we were alone, after sharing an intimate moment together. Preferably around some beautiful scenery, like a lake, maybe a sunset—"He was cut off by Tonks's lips on his, and for the next few seconds it didn't matter that they were on an old couch at Grimmauld Place, not on a beach with stars sparkling in the sky. As Tonks ran her fingers through his hair, Remus held her waist, pulling her close, never wanting the moment to end. But then—

"Bloody hell, Moony! You decided to take the dare after all." Remus and Tonks broke away, to see Sirius standing in the doorway in a white T-shirt and checkered pajama bottoms. Remus threw a pillow at him, saying "Shouldn't you be asleep, Padfoot?"

"Right, don't want to interrupt you lovebirds! But you'll tell me how it all happened, right?"

"Believe it or not, Sirius, you were the culprit," said Tonks. "So I suppose we should thank you for this, as twisted as your method was."

Sirius beamed. "Looks like I finally did something right! Good night, you two."

"Night, Sirius!"

Back in his bedroom, Sirius turned to Buckbeak. "I just love happy endings, don't you, Beaky?"


End file.
